The Hawkeye swim team will go to Minnesota for the year’s first championship-format meet.

By Anna Kayser
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The Iowa men’s and women’s swimming teams will compete in Minneapolis this weekend at the Minnesota Jean Freeman Invitational beginning today.

This is the swimming teams’ first competition since Nov. 3 at Purdue, when the Hawkeye men beat the then-ranked Boilermakers and the women fell in a close competition.

Despite the long break, the team doesn’t expect to face any challenges. This meet is all about getting the chance to face off against an opponent again.

“A midseason meet, we don’t rest too much, we just throw the suit on and see where we’re at,” sophomore Joe Myhre said. “We’re just excited to get up and race.”

Practice during the break focused on sharpening skills and pulling the team dynamic together.

“You don’t want to change anything major in the middle of the season,” Myhre said. “I think when we were going to Purdue, we were a little tired, so we changed a little bit of stuff, but we’re keeping it pretty much the same.”

The swimmers got to go home to their families on Nov. 22 to celebrate Thanksgiving. It wasn’t a big break, but most are just anxious to get back into racing.

A key part of the invitational is the chance for both the men and the women to face off against Minnesota for the second time this season.

Last time, the men upset then-ranked Minnesota, and the women fell in a strong performance. One difference between the two meets is that this invitational will feature a Big Ten format with preliminary rounds in the morning followed by finals at night.

Being exposed to a championship format early in the season brings advantages for the younger swimmers; they have the chance to be exposed to it before the Big Ten and NCAA meets.

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“You get to see what you’ll be like in heats and finals,” sophomore Hannah Burvill said. “I know that I swim a lot differently when it comes to my heats as opposed to my finals, just because I’m able to relax a lot more in the final than in the heat, weirdly enough.”

Another difference from the last time facing Minnesota is that both teams have grown stronger, both in the pool and in the team dynamic.

“They’ve really been holding each other accountable,” head coach Marc Long said. “They’re working hard, they’re dedicated, just really proud of this group and the women to get closer and to challenge themselves. We’re really anxious to get up there and see what we can do.”

Since falling to both Minnesota and Purdue in two close meets, the women have strengthened themselves as a team to back one another.

“I think we’re mentally there,” Burvill said. “Our training together, we’re really good at motivating each other when we swim, so we’ve gotten better than that and have gotten closer as a team.”

The mental aspect is a big part of the sport, but the work from the past month will show off in the combination of the mental and physical efforts.

“Definitely our attitude is a lot better,” Burvill said. “We put ourselves out there a lot more, physically and mentally, too, but that’s something we’ve all worked on. Preparing ourselves outside of the pool, too; we’ve been working really hard in the weight room, which is always going to help.”